Where were you?

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the United States of America was attacked.  No matter your location or situation, as a member of this beautiful nation, we collectively felt the impact of these terrible actions.  The total number of dead in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania was 2,977 people, not including 19 hijackers.

(Text in italics and all photos copied from CNN.com; http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/09/whitehouse.photographer/index.html?&hpt=hp_c2)

As the president's personal photographer and head of the White House Photo Office, Eric Draper was with President George W. Bush for nearly every day of his eight-year term, often just a few feet away.

The text in italics is from Draper's account of 9/11, as well as his photos.

As Air Force One approaches Washington, Bush talks with Vice President Cheney while looking at the smoldering Pentagon.

President Bush and retired firefighter Bob Beckwith stand on the rubble of the World Trade Center.

President Bush always kept the badge worn by Port Authority Officer George Howard, who died in the trade center, in his pocket during his presidency.

This morning at the memorial, Former President George W. Bush read a letter sent by Abraham Lincoln to a woman who lost five sons in the Civil War.  "I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming," Bush read, quoting Lincoln. "But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save."

So now I ask, where were you when the world stopped turning?  This video clip was the first time Alan Jackson presented his beautiful song at the Country Music Awards, shortly after the attacks, and it was a very touching moment for our nation.  I remember weeping as I heard the song and feeling a sense that there was an outlet (in music) for many of the emotions I was feeling.

I was driving to school at the University of Utah.  It was my first semester at the U and I was on my way to Chemistry 1010.  When I first heard the towers had been hit, I could hardly believe that such a "sad accident" had occurred and foolishly wondered if the pilot had been intoxicated when it happened.  Once the second tower was hit, I realized I was assuming the best intent of the situation, as it was neither an accident nor the fault of the true pilot of the plane, but rather the act of malicious terrorists.

My brother was serving an LDS mission in Boston, Massachusetts at this time and I was so worried about him.  Even though Boston is a few hours from New York City, I felt like he was vulnerable and simply wanted to gather my little family together in a group hug and not let go, as though if we were together, nothing could go wrong.

I remember wanting to spend the next week as close to my family, specifically my parents, as possible.  I was 18, fresh out of high school, and quickly learning that the adult world could be scary.  The 2002 Olympics were coming to our school campus a few months later and suddenly security on campus went through the roof; we were told we were a major world target, as they were sure the terrorists would want to crash the Olympics and attack the University of Utah specifically.  I suddenly felt terribly unsafe at school and was very concerned about knowing how I could quickly get out of any building I entered.

During the previous week, I was interviewed by one of my dear friends about my feelings and thoughts associated with 9/11.  She is 13 and had a school assignment regarding this topic.  As I tried to convey my thoughts, feelings, and emotions of this event to her, I had a difficult time conveying the magnitude of the situation to her.  I couldn't adequately describe all the ways in which is change the world - and how it changed me.  As a simple, insignificant girl in Salt Lake City, Utah, even I was touched - and changed - by the events of this critical day in the history of the United States of America.

I pray that her generation will never experience something like this that would allow her to understand.


(Text in italics from CNN.com; http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/09/11/911.commemoration/index.html)

Those in the crowd included Joseph Conzo, who has been an EMT for 18 years. He recalled the moment the second tower collapsed, leaving him trapped beneath the smoldering rubble of a neighboring Marriott hotel.


"I still can't believe it's been 10 years," he said. "I've got a range of mixed emotions."  Conzo said he was in therapy for two years after the attacks, grappling with "survivors' guilt."

"It was the kind of thing that if you went right, you died, and if you went left, you lived," he said. "I was left with the question, 'Why me?'"

Sunday's ceremony, to him, is about closure, he said. "Let's get this finished and move forward."


Let us never forget, but instead let us get this finished and move forward.  We shall never forget that day, but we shall also not live as victims - for that is not how those who died would want us to be.

May God bless you - and may God bless America.